Sasha's Path
by The Fantasy Spinner
Summary: How did Tigerstar's romance with Sasha really come to be? Sasha is a rogue of BloodClan when she meets the brave Tigerstar and wishes to join the Clans. But first she must escape the rule of Scourge and accept her life in the forest- can she? (HIATUS)


_sBloodClan_

**Leader:** Scourge – tiny black tom with one white paw and ice-blue eyes, wears a purple collar and dog's claws on his feet.

**Deputy:** Bone- massive white tom with amber eyes, wears a green collar.

**Collars (cats of high status who get to wear collars with teeth)**

Oak- dark chestnut tom with green eyes, brown collar

Grey- long-haired dark grey tom with blue eyes, blue collar

Scar- huge yellow tabby tom with amber eyes, red collar.

Rat- small black tom with a pink nose and blue eyes, white collar

Sparrow- Tall tortoise-shell she-cat with blue eyes, pink collar

Storm- grey-black she-cat with white paws, light lavender collar

Ice- long-haired white she-cat with amber eyes, dark green collar.

**Regulars (Cats who don't get to wear collars)**

Thorn- dark grey tabby she-cat with green eyes, Thistle's sister

Thistle- dark grey tabby she-cat with blue eyes, Thorn's sister

Sun- white she-cat with ginger legs, amber eyes

Brownie- long-haired dark brown she-cat with amber eyes

Splash- white tom with black patches and amber eyes

Mittens- small brownish-grey tabby she-cat with white markings, green eyes

Sasha- tawny-pelted she-cat with green eyes

**Queens (she-cats who are nursing kits or will deliver kits within half a moon)**

Violet- black she-cat with blue eyes

The night looked peaceful, but I knew better.

A few faint lights still glimmered along the city streets. Strains of music still drifted of a Twoleg hangout, but all respectable folk had gone back to their dens at this time of night.

I wondered what that said about me.

I peered out from behind a metal scrap-container, pausing only for a moment to let the scents overwhelm me. No use- this area had already been scavenged this evening. Something rustled in the corner of my eye, and I stiffened, then relaxed as I heard a familiar voice call-

"Rulers of the night, friends of the darkness."

"We are BloodClan." I answered.

A pause, and an chestnut tom slid out from behind an alley street, a limp rat clutched in his jaws.

"Oak." I mewed, dipping my head respectfully at the collared Clanmate. My eyes widened as I saw his prey. "Fresh-kill! Where'd you find it? Oh, Scourge'll let you have another tooth on your collar for that."

Oak gestured with his tail to the alley behind him. "Back there. It's no use now, though- the rascals have all fled. Too bad- coldtime is coming, too." I nodded assent. The days were already getting colder, the nights longer. Not that I cared. Nights were when BloodClan functioned best.

We padded along the street, hiding in the shadows, jumping around at the slightest whisper. This was life in BloodClan- constant fighting, constant viligance, all part of the struggle to survive.

We stopped as we neared the dump. At first glance, it looked like nothing, a pile of Twoleg rubbish. Then you started noticing things- the way items were stacked, forming supports, shelter. Near the back of the lot, items were sorted into piles, shiny-rock and clear-rock. A small pile of foodscraps lay next to a deep puddle, sheltered by a huge shinyrock thing.

The main prize, though, was the dens. A while back, before I joined, a Twoleg had dropped off dozens of black circles with holes in the center, the kind they put on their monsters. The outsides were grooved and marked, but the insides provided a nice cat-sized space to curl up in sleep. They were stacked in the center of the dump, and though they weren't assigned, each cat had a particular place they liked to sleep.

I had only been in Scourge's den a few times. It was the largest den, several cat-lengths wide. Once, a cat had made a joke about how the smallest cat had the biggest den. The next day, he was found dead by the foodscrap pile.

Bone sat by the entrance, a huge white figure in the rapidly falling darkness. His amber eyes flashed when he saw me, and I cursed myself for reporting to Scourge himself. It wasn't the custom for regulars to report to the leader. Still, he made no comment as he grunted "Come on."

My leader sat in the near-darkness, his small figure barely more than a shadow in the gloom. His one white paw glistened in the shaft of moonlight not blocked by Bone's hulking figure. It was a funny story, about that paw. Scourge called it- well, he didn't say it, he had his guard to spread the rumors and stories- his one pure paw. The one patch of light on his whole body. Every claw was reinforced with dog's huge ripping nails, but the ones one his pure paw were as clear white as the day he got them. He never killed with that paw, it was said, but no one dared mention it in front of him lest the tradition be broken.

Scourge looked up, his ice-blue eyes sending a chill through my skin. "Hello, Oak. Sasha." His voice was like honey, sweet and soft and velvety. What they never tell you, though, is honey comes with beestings.

Oak padded forward first, raising one paw in the air in our Clan's gesture of respect. "Greetings, my leader." I did the same. Scourge dipped his head quietly. That was Scourge's way, polite up to the last moment of death. He never yowled or hissed, but those who disobeyed were executed with a quick, clean strike. Long deaths were saved for real enemies, the kind that fought back.

Scourge turned his piercing blue eyes to Oak. "Oak? Report?" Oak straightened up, giving his shoulder a lick, and I quickly ran my tongue across my tawny fur, smoothing it down. "Scavenging patrol, my leader. Scrap cans were full today, and we found a rogue's den near the red-rock place. Empty, apparently gone for days. And-this. Fresh-kill." He held up his rat. Scourge's expression didn't change- he was too professional for that, but his tail twitched. "Excellent, Oak. Another tooth on your collar for you. Bone!" The deputy nodded. He'd be taking Oak to the tooth-place, to attach his new tooth.

"Sasha." Scourge mewed crisply. Hello to you too, Scourge. "My leader, I was on territory watch. I chased a small dog out of the territory. It was very small, and had large pointed ears and sharp fur. It was wearing a dog collar, and it ran into its Twoleg's nest." I explained. Scourge nodded. "Did you claw it?" I looked down. "I didn't think that was a good idea, my leader. When- when I lived with my Twolegs, they had a dog, and when a rogue scratched it they captured it and took it in their monsters. They might retaliate again this time."

I looked up, scarcely breathing, but Scourge merely flicked his tail. "Very well. However, Sasha-" A hint of malevolence tinged his voice- "See to it that you do not appear weak, hmm? Go now." He indicated the door, and I padded towards it, half expecting him to leap on me from behind.

"And Sasha." I turned. _This is it. He's going to kill me. _"I have a special assignment for you. As you seem to be skilled at...tactfulness. Diplomacy." He flicked a claw and I winced, but he only started to remove the dirt from it with rough strokes of his tongue. "See me tomorrow."


End file.
